The Pressures of War
by TheLostWeasleyDaughter
Summary: Ginny rolled her shoulders back, held her head high, and straightened her emerald tie. Ginny is in her sixth year at Hogwarts as a Slytherin, and the pressure of the building war has taken it's toll. But Ginny's not the only one who's been affected. When a class assignment stresses Ginny to the max, who's there to comfort her. Rated T for language. [GinnyxDraco]


Sixteen and a half year old Ginny Weasley walked down the corridors, her skirt swishing behind her. Her fiery curls tumbled down her back, eager to meet at the base of her spine. Books in hand, she walked down the halls with her best friend Luna Lovegood to their charms class. Luna, being the same age as her older youngest brother Ron, was of course a year ahead of her. But Ginny excelled in most things, including charms. As a result she was put in courses a year above her. Including her worst subject, potions. Luna walked into the class room, looking over her shoulder at her best friend. Ginny waved her in and watched Luna disappear behind the door. Ginny rolled her shoulders back, held her head high, and straightened her emerald tie. Opening the doors she quickly made her way to her seat in the Slytherin section of the class room. She sat between Astoria Greengrass, and Viola Richmond. Twenty minutes had passed, and the girls were already way off topic. Ginny closed her eyes and tried to qualm her Weasley temper. It wouldn't be good for her to lose her cool in class. She'd already had two detentions that week, one with Snape and the other with Trelawney. She couldn't afford one with Flitwick, not that she'd get one though. Flitwick was too proud of Ginny to give her a detention. He saw her as his prodigy. "A charm genius!" he had, on many occasions, told her after class.

Today they were learning about atmospheric charms and how to reverse them. Ginny, who found this very interesting, was getting more and more upset at the two girls next to her.  
"Oh totally. Have you seen him? He's got one of the best bodies in Hogwarts!"  
"Mmm, you're right. But I think that Blaise can't compete with Draco. He may be second best, but it's too far apart to even be close."  
"Did I tell you about the time I saw Draco shirtless after he was practicing? It was the best thirty seconds of my life. He even nodded at me." The two girls squealed, quietly, in delight.  
"Oi!" she gently put her pencil down and the two girls stopped talking instantly. "I actually want to hear about this. I know, for a fact, you two bints have every single class together, because I hear you talking about it _every_ day. So, unless you _don't_ want to know how to reverse what I'm going to do to your room tonight, stop. Fucking. Talking." Ginny plastered a smile on her face and went back to writing what was on the board. The two girl's eyes widened. They turned to the board and hurriedly wrote down everything. Needless to say, the girls were silent for the rest of the class. Our little Weasley had quite the reputation. When the name Ginny Weasley is spoken, the first thought to anyone's mind is her famous Bat-Bogy Hex.

The period continued and the students were released. Luna quickly made her way through the throng of students to her best friend.  
"What did you say to them?"  
"Why do you think I said something to them?" Ginny gave Luna her best innocent look which, to most people, convinces them and erases all suspicion about Ginny. But Luna knew better than that. Lifting one eyebrow, Luna gave Ginny the look. Ginny's mask cracked and she grinned from ear to ear.  
"I just told them they may have some incentive to pay attention to the lesson..." Ginny drawled. Luna sighted and rolled her eyes.

The common thought about Slytherin's, is that all of them are rich, purebloods, who all loved the Dark Lord and had money to spare. But our little snake of a Weasley isn't common. Although she tries very hard to avoid being friends with anyone in Gryffindor, she had made at least one friend in each house. Although, the "friends" in Gryffindor pretty much lived at her house every vacation, holiday, weekend they got off. And she wasn't fond of them. Hate is such a strong word… lets go with… despise. Yes, that fits the bill just right. She despised the Golden Trio just as much as any other Slytherin. This Weasley had something in her that none of her family had. And she loved it.

"Come on, you have to get to divination, and I have to get to herbology." They took out their wands and sent their books to their respective dorms. Within seconds of their potions books dissipating, more books replaced them. Luna walked Ginny to the divination room to make sure she was going to actually go this time. Ginny rolled her eyes and stomped into the classroom. Luna smiled and rolled her eyes as she turned and walked down the corridor.

Ginny walked to her seat. She was the second one here and not in the mood to listen to any more gossip. Pansy Parkinson sat behind her, but on the other hand she got to sit next to Blaise Zabini. He usually kept her in line. The two of them had talked a few times, usually about dirt on people they had recently dug up. No one knew it, but Blaise the Blackmail King in Hogwarts. He has dirty laundry on everyone in Hogwarts, including a few professors. Ginny sighed as she heard Pansy sit behind her, laughing obnoxiously at something that happened in the hallway. The door opened and Blaise Zabini walked to his seat. Ginny smirked at the café skinned boy and raised an eyebrow.  
"I take it you heard something interesting?"  
"Oh yes. This is probably one of the best kept secrets of Hogwarts students ever."  
"I'm dying to hear about it." Ginny turned to Blaise, who in return gave his tell tail smirk.  
"I'm sorry love, but I can't just tell you. Remember our deal? A secret for a secret." Ginny thumped her head against the table. So far the only secrets he knew about her were one, she had to wear bunny slippers until the week before she went to Hogwarts, two, her owl's name was Pigwidgeon, and three, she still had nightmares of Tom Riddle (this secret Blaise vowed on his own life never to give out, or pick at her about). Professor Trelawney walked to the front of the class room. She handed out tea cups and saucers then poured tea into everyone's cups. The students sipped on their tea and talked amongst themselves. Ginny and Blaise were sitting in comfortable silence, while Pansy was talking about some boy she had last night. A grin plastered itself on Ginny's face as a secret flew through her mind.  
"Blaise, did I ever tell you about last Christmas?"  
"I do not believe so love, why?"  
"Well, you said a secret for a secret… do you want the biggest blackmail you could have on my brother?"  
"Which one?"  
"The stupid git."  
"Oh, Ron?" Blaise deliberated for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.  
"Okay, so last Christmas we had some distant family over. The majority of them girls, and they were all pretty hot." Blaise gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, one of them was flirting with Ron. Not just the flirty laugh and hand on the arm. No, she pretty much stuck her hand down his pants every time she could. After dinner she said she was feeling tired. So my mum, of course, sent Ron to do it because they "got along so well". I wasn't up there so I can't tell you how it started, but I know Ron didn't start it. After about twenty minutes my mum wanted to know where Ron was, so she went upstairs, and everyone else fallowed. The cousins were staying on the top floor of the Burrow, so we climbed like, six flights of stairs to get to them. My mom burst through the door and found Ron sitting on the bed, our cousin on her knees in front of him." Blaise, who was sipping his tea at the time, choked down his tea as he tried not to spit it out. "Needless to say, everyone in the house saw more of Ron than we'd ever like to see. Ever." Blaise set down his cup and nodded his head.  
"Alright, that's defiantly worth this secret. Next time though, I want some more dirt on Potter." Ginny stuck out her pinky and Blaise wrapped his around hers.  
"Deal. So, what's this secret you learned today?"  
"Pansy Parkinson slept with Neville Longbottom."  
"What!?" Ginny toned down her voice when everyone looked at her, "What?" she whispered to Blaise, taking another drink of her tea. Blaise silently nodded his head as he took another drink of his tea. They sat in silence for the rest of the first half of the class.  
Too soon, everyone was done with their tea, and Professor Trelawney walked around the class room, peering over the edges of everyone's cups. She finally made her way to Blaise.  
"What do you see?"  
"You're the professor, you tell me."  
"I see a mole. Now tell me what that means." She smiled at him, and he tried to remember. Ginny sighed. She flipped through the pages of her Divination book and scooted it closer to the boy. He looked down and deadpanned.  
"If you are to see a mole in the tea leaves, it means that you are a revealer of secret matters." Ginny started to giggle and used a cough to cover it. Now the professor was peering into Ginny's cup.  
"Ahh, the raven. Please, tell me what it means." Ginny flipped a few pages and ran her finger down until she saw the word.  
"The raven is thought to move between the worlds of the dead and living," Ginny took a deep breath, "if the raven appears, you are about to experience a change in consciousness." Ginny gave a perplexed look at the pages but Trelawney had already moved on. Ginny didn't say anything for the rest of the class.

The day went on as normal. Luna met her at the doors, and they walked to an uneventful lunch. Ginny had to admit, things were bland with the Golden Trio off on their "adventure". But it was better than having a troll in the bathrooms. It also meant that no first years were running to her, asking her if she knew Harry freacking Potter. So, Ginny was content with their absence. Ginny handed Luna her Divination book in trade for Luna's Herbology book. Ginny went to her Herbology class. They were taken out to the forbidden forest in search for some root Ginny didn't care about. Instead of looking, Ginny found a quite spot away from everyone else. She sighed as she heard the professor calling them back. She sighed, not happy at all about where she had to go next.

She walked into Snape's classroom and took her seat without a word. Within minutes she felt a presence next to her and she stiffened. It seemed Snape had a sense of humor, and decided to seat Ginny right next to, none other than the Prince of Slytherin himself, Draco Malfoy to her left, and no one to her right. But he did give her a window, and that she was grateful for. Many of the Slytherins were afraid of the Prince, some even worshiped the ground he walked on. But Ginny couldn't stray from her Weasley upbringing. She couldn't stand how arrogant he was. Always bragging to people about which girl he'd had that night, which girl he snogged three hours later. She may despise the Golden Trio, but she was disgusted by Draco Malfoy. Lately there had been rumors about him having the Dark Mark. Everyone knew that his father had one, and that Bellatrix Lestrange was practically his aunt. Not only that, but his father was the one who put Tom Riddle's diary in her potions pot her first year. Ginny never felt safe in any room with him, it wasn't possible. So sitting next to him, after lunch, made her stomach flip. Snape stepped to the front of the room and began writing notes on the board about a potion they were supposed to make that night. Ginny wrote down every scribbled word, wrote down everything Snape said about the potion, but she was still, almost, one hundred percent sure she wouldn't get this right.  
"Now," Snape said right before the end of the class, "because of the lack-luster quality of the potions these past weeks, I've decided that for every potion that is not perfect, I will take house points away. How many I take away, depends on the quality of your potion. Dismissed." Everyone filed out of the class room. Many students sought help in the smartest students, begging them to work together.  
Ginny snuck down the halls, careful not to be seen by anyone. Turn after turn, the youngest Weasley made her way to her intended destination, the Room of Requirement. When she reached the right wall she closed her eyes.  
_'Please, please, let me in.'_ Ginny opened her eyes and smiled at the doorknob sticking out of the wall. Quickly she entered and was greeted by a large room, a huge, white, couch/bed combination was pushed against the far left wall with a plush emerald blanket draped along the back. A stain glass coffee table sat in front of the couch covered with every potion material ever needed. A full kitchen was to the right, and a bathroom door was on the back wall. This room was a familiar sight to the Weasley daughter. She spent most of her time here. Yes, she had her own room due to the extent of the bullying that she had endured her first year, but that still didn't mean she liked it there. While the common room was beautiful, her room was very cold, no matter how well furnished it was. Ginny sat down on the edge of the couch and took out her potions book and notes. She checked her potions pot, a nasty habit she obtained after her first year. Nodding, she began to make her potion.

Before she knew it, three hours passed and she still hadn't made the potion right, but she burnt two tries, over stirred three, and one had exploded in her face. With a huff, Ginny threw the spoon she was using across the room. She put her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. She heard the door open and a few footsteps filled the room.  
"Not now Luna. I know I missed dinner, but I have to get this potion right. I just… it's been hard alright? It's just that… those dreams are getting worse... they feel too real… and I'm afraid…" Ginny looked up and froze, it wasn't Luna standing at the door, although they did had platinum hair. It was the Slytherin Prince who stood at the door, staring at the vulnerable Weasley. Slowly he made his way to the couch and sat next to her. She wiped her eyes and glared at him.  
"What, you don't have a comment on how gross I look? Or how poor my family is? Or, maybe how a Slytherin shouldn't be afraid of the Dark Lord?" Ginny let out a cynical laugh and shook her head.  
"What? You think you're the only one scared? I'll let you in on a little _secret_. My _father_ is a death eater. My _mother_ is practically sisters with, _his_, right hand woman. My family is right in the _middle_ of this shit pot and I don't want to be a part of it. But by all means, go ahead and tell me that your life is worse than mine."  
"My entire family, every single person, has been forced right in the middle with you. All of my friends. Every single person who shows the slightest bit of interest in me, friends or otherwise, has the highest chance of getting killed, because Tom Riddle is still a part of me. I can feel him inside of me. For the past six years, I wake up screaming because he came back to me again. He sits at the end of my bed every night, and whispers to me. And you know who did that to me? YOU. You told your father that I was his girlfriend. Tom tells me he wants me to kill my family. And sometimes, I want to give into him. And that pisses me off. But the worst part about that is, I'm worried about people who don't talk to me. Who make me stay locked up in my room when I'm there. And when I come out, it's only for appearances. The only people who know I'm not a Gryffindor in my family are three of my brothers and my parents. It took Fred and George two years to talk to me, and still they only make jokes about my house. The only time Ron talks to me is when I piss him off. And I only do that to hear his voice. Your family may not talk to you, or show you love, but you're used to it. I grew up with a family, the only girl, then I lost it. It's like I'm trapped in a fishbowl with a shark, pounding on the glass to get help before it consumes me, but no one's looking. I'm alone. Even here… Tom Riddle is the only one I have… and I'm so close to giving in… to just…" Draco was nervous. In the middle of her rant, Ginny had started to cry. Draco was never good with crying girls. Usually all he had to do was just tell them to leave his room enough and they'd just go and he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. But this situation was completely different. He had bared a part of himself to a Weasley, and she had just poured her soul out to him, he couldn't just leave her like that. What Draco did next even surprised him.

Gently he reached out and wiped her tears off her cheeks. Ginny looked up with him, big doe eyes glittering with unshed tears. This was the first time he had really seen Ginny up close. Her half lidded honey eyes had flecks of gold and green in them. Constellations of freckles dotted her entire body. She had a button nose, and her lips were light pink and plump. Her curls were loose, and her bangs were half covering her eyes. Long black lashes stood out against pale skin. Draco felt something that he hadn't felt his entire existence. He couldn't name the feeling simmering in his stomach, but he gave into it, not caring what happened.

His hands gripped her hair as his lips crashed against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Draco lay Ginny down and left a trail of butterfly light kisses along the freckle path down her neck and to her collarbone. Ginny let out a small ragged gasp and was soon on top of the boy. He gave her a smirk before she kissed him, leaving him breathless. Ginny grabbed at Draco's shirt, and soon the buttons were ripped off and the shirt was laying on the floor abandoned. Draco undid the buttons on Ginny's shirt with master precision and in a heartbeat her shirt lay with Draco's.

An hour of snogging, and fondling had passed, and the two detangled themselves. Draco coughed into his hand and sat on the edge of the couch again.

"So-uhm- liquid luck, huh?" Ginny awkwardly held her shoulder, not caring to put on her shirt.  
"Yeah. I just can't get it right."  
"Yeah, it's confusing. I had to change some things around. Here," Draco helped Ginny step by step, showing her what things were changed, but when it came time to start brewing, Ginny had to check the pot first, which Draco didn't fail to notice.  
"Why do you do that?"  
"I don't know. It might have to do with that diary. I don't know." Ginny sarcastically said glaring, once again, at the boy next to her.  
"I…" Draco took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, alright? I didn't know what it was, or what it'd do. I just thought it was some stupid diary. But you have to know, Tom Riddle can't hurt you. The pot is not Tom Riddle. The pot won't hurt you. Every time you brew you burn away the memory. Heat of the cauldron first, then his memory won't be there. And, if you ever dream of him again you can- I can't believe I'm saying this but- send me an owl, come here and I'll be here with you, alright?" Ginny laughed but agreed none the less. "What's so funny?"  
"You. You're being so nice. What's up with that?"  
"I don't know. Call it the pressures of war, but I'm going to call it my prefect duties."  
"Snogging me is a prefect duty?" Ginny smirked up at him, pleased that she just won.  
"I don't know, but after that snogging, it just might have to be. You're pretty good… For a Weasley." Ginny sent a fake glare and smiled. Draco smiled back, a true, beautiful, perfect smile. He shook his head when Ginny blushed and picked up his ruined shirt. "I'm going to go to bed. Finish that potion then get some rest. Good night, Ginny."  
"Good night Draco." Draco walked down the corridors back to the dungeons, happy and confused. He was happy because he finally felt like the weight that had been on his shoulders was lifted. But on the other hand he was confused, because that same simmering in his stomach hadn't gone away.

Ginny sat down and checked the cauldron and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath she heated the bottom, and let the memories of Tom Riddle melt away. When she felt satisfied with that, she set out to finish this potion.

The next day in potions, only few house points were taken off, and Ginny smiled at Draco. He quickly flashed her a small smile and quick nod. Ginny took out a piece of parchment and scribbled something down quickly. At the end of class she was the first to leave, but sitting on Draco's book was the corner to a piece of parchment.  
_'Draco,  
If this is what happens after the pressures of war/prefect duties, we should do it more often.  
~Ginny'_


End file.
